Eclectic commentary from a progressive voice in the reddest part of the red state

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Politicians can't be allowed to backtrack on their stupidity

“Misspoke” and “out of context” have become the common excuse of politicians trying to make an excuse of being openly stupid. It is, in the jargon of people who think themselves Beltway

cognoscenti, an attempt to “walk back” remarks that clearly embarrass them. Or, maybe it’s that they’re so arrogant they don’t embarrass, so it’s them following the instructions of their handlers to retract remarks.

Two recent examples come to mind, one of which we’ve already mentioned on this blog. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, perhaps unknowingly because of his mental deficiencies, mistreated a National Park Service employee, trying to blame her for the government shutdown that he supported. The encounter, caught on videoby the NBC station in Washington, was a stunning insight into the plutocratic yet deficient mentality of a Texas politician.

The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal reported that Neugebauer claimed the video was out of context because “the encounter followed a visit he and other members of Congress had investigating why the National Park Service installed barricades around the open-air memorial that usually does not have controlled access.”

The A-J, which is owned by the same right-wing corporation that owns the Amarillo Globe-News, didn’t post or link to the NBC video. But readers of this blog can find it here. Judge for yourselves whether Neugebauer is being treated unfairly in the media. Or, by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, which filed a complaintagainst Neugebauer, for bringing discredit to the United States House of Representatives.

Another example is from one of the least mentally capable people and another Texas politician — Rick Perry, currently suckling at two public tits, one a salary for government and another pulling down retirement funds. During a visit to New Jersey, Perry tried to criminalize the Affordable Care Act and the mandate to enroll people in the program. According to NJ.com, Perry said, “If this heath care law is forced upon this country, the young men and women in this audience are the ones who are really going to pay the price. And that, I suggest to you, reaches the point of being a felony toward them and their future. That is a criminal act, from my perspective, to put that type of burden on them — to mortgage their future like that.”

A day later, the Houston Chronicle reported that “Perry also tempered a remark he made earlier this week in New Jersey, when he said the implementation of the president's national health care overhaul was ‘a criminal act.’ Perry said Friday that he used the word figuratively.”

The United States Congress passed the Affordable Care Act, the president signed it and the Supreme Court ruled the measure was constitutional. What part of all this does Perry not understand? Either none of it, reflecting his ignorance or, more likely and even worse, all of it but spinning it to cater to the right wing base that supports him and similar politician like Red Cruz and Neugebauer.